Lloyd O. Sheckleford

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Attorney Lloyd Sheckleford, admitted in 1977 and in private practice, failed to pay practising certificate fees from 1984 until the complaint was filed in July 2006 (22 years) while continuing to practise without a practising certificate. After the complaint, he made payments totalling $135,000. The panel found, beyond reasonable doubt, that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct in breach of section 5(2) of the Legal Profession Act and several canons. The panel imposed a fine of $350,000 and costs of $100,000 payable to the General Legal Council.

Duties found breached:

• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
• Hold a current practising certificate
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Failure to pay practising certificate fees for 22 years
• Deliberate continued practice without a practising certificate

Mitigating factors:

• Attorney was permitted to practise for many years without his practising certificate before proceedings commenced
• Attorney made payments of outstanding practising certificate fees after the complaint was laid